The Commissioner/Secretary, Tourism & Culture K. Mehboob Ali Khan assesses feasibility of tourism development/expansion in Kargil town, adjoining areas .

KARGIL, DECEMBER 19, 2023: On his second day of the visit to Kargil the Commissioner/Secretary, Tourism & Culture took an extensive tour of few important locations along with concerned Army and Civil Administration Officers to assess the need and feasibility for establishment/expansion of tourist facilities in and around Kargil town.
At the junction of Kargil Road/Bus Stand, identified as one of the projects under Swadesh Darshan 2.0 of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, the Commissioner/Secretary discussed in detail with the officers of Station Headquarter of the Army regarding relocation of a boundary wall for creating a safe passage at the intersection and also to beautify the surroundings. He directed the CEO, Tourism Development Authority, Kargil to prepare a proposal/drawing along with the Revenue Department so that the same is submitted to the Army for further processing by the Army for requisite approvals.
The Commissioner/Secretary also visited the office premises of Employment & Counselling Center, Kargil and discussed at length with the concerned officers of the Army, Revenue Department and Employment Department to work out a practically feasible solution to provide motorable access to the office following due procedures.
The Commissioner/Secretary Khan along with the Commander, 121 Infantry Brigade and other Army Officers visited the Army War Museum at Helipad-Kargil and appreciated the local Army authorities for the collection and display of the history of the wars fought, supreme sacrifices of the soldiers and local culture and traditions. He discussed with the Brigade Commander about the need to bring the museum on the tourism map and also work together to augment & improve the existing museum so as to make it a must-see historical site & tourist spot.
Visiting the Linkipal Ski Slope site, the Commissioner/Secretary directed the Revenue and Tourism department officials to expedite the demarcation of land for the skiing area and development of chair car and other required amenities. The Commissioner/Secretary emphasised that the Institute of Skiing & Mountaineering, Gulmarg shall have an operational branch at Kargil soon and they will conduct two coursed in the month of February for local and outside skiers. He requested the concerned officers of the Army to coordinate with officials of Revenue and Tourism department to expedite the process of clearing the area of unexploded objects from the demarcated area.
The Commissioner/Secretary also visited Point 13620/Indian Army Post at Changi-la and as discussed with Army authorities assessed the suitability of the proposed locations for development/improvement of tourist related amenities in terms of establishment of cafeteria, toilets, viewpoints, parking, and possible platform for Paragliding. He directed the Tourism officers to immediately start the process of preparing DPR preferably of prefabricated/pre-engineered material. He was informed about the importance of the post being the citadel of Indian Defence and the historic battles fought on the post. The Commissioner/Secretary paid homage to the martyrs of various wars at the point.
Later, the Commissioner/ Secretary visited Tourist Facilitation Center (TFC) at Biamathang and took stock of the ongoing works of the renovation/refurbishing and upgradation of the building and the amphitheatre nearby. He also inspected other tourism infrastructure works in the vicinity of the TFC including laying of footpath/river front development works, light and sound show site and other allied works.
The Commissioner/Secretary instructed the concerned officers to complete all remaining works at the earliest so that the TFC building and nearby facilities are inaugurated in April, 2024 and dedicated to the public.
CEO, Kargil Development Authority, Abdul Gaffar Zargar; OSD/Under Secretary to Commissioner/Secretary, Muhammad Ali Tak; Executive Engineer, KDA, Tsering Morup; Assistant Tourist Officer, Ghulam Rasool Lal besides other concerned officers of KDA accompanied the Commissioner Secretary during the tour.